Saturday, August 18, 2012

American politics reared its ugly head last night at our going-away dinner. Naturally, I stood up liberality, but even as a did so, I understood there are some people who are so twisted in their thinking, so stolid and stodgy in their viewpoints, that it's useless to try.

But I made the statement because I think we liberals have been put upon and put down way too often, and that other liberals at the table had to hear someone make the case forcefully and cogently.

I'll probably end up writing more on the topic later. For now, let's just say that we may have scared off local diners.

"Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things...every one! So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, 'Liberal,' as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work, Senator, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor." -- Matt Santos, The West Wing